About to try it for first time, but confused . . .

Okay, this is a totally dorky question from a newbie, but I am confused about the at which angle the razor should be held to the skin. I've read several places that 30 degrees is the correct angle, but on one of the manufacturer's instruction handouts it said that first timers should hold the razor at a 90 degree angle to the skin and basically attempt to simply gently scrape the beard off. I realize the angle is going to change depending on where you are (e.g., right under your nose), but I really don't want to blow it and cut off a large chunk of flesh my first time.

Any advice would be gratefully accepted.

At 90 degrees the blade would be in the most excellent position to do some major damage to you. Just one false move and you would have it. 30 degrees is the angle most use with adjustments as necessary with your particular anatomy but most adjustments are minor.

It's usually 30 degrees. Start with just doing the sides of you face. That's the easiest. See how that goes before going on to the other areas of your face.

Something that really helped me was to go to the Videos section of the site (under Main Menu) and watch Lynn shave and then check out the Straight Razor Shave III video by Brian Donofrio under the Links/Great Straight Razor Information. That should really help clear up any confusion.

90 is not the right angle to shave with. You will hurt yourself and get a terrible shave. 30 degrees is the way to go.:cool:

30 degrees is the number you are looking for, as the others have said. Don't be afraid, it's not as hard as it seems. These things are sharp, no doubt about that, but they are not so sharp that they will not glide over your skin (for the most part), only cutting the whiskers as they get in the way. This is of course predicated upon good prep, stretching your skin taut and a well lubricated, slippery face, but you'll be surprised at how well it actually works. Common sense tells you that without a guard, the edge of the razor will simply sink into your skin, but that's simply untrue. Unless, of course, you use more than a little pressure. Practice will make perfect, but the first step is the first shave. You will undoubtedly hear this about 47 million times, but get a shave ready razor from one of us here first and avoid the painful experimentation with a less than ready blade. If you already picked one up, have it properly honed. Welcome to the group, by the way!

Jeff

That's right, 30º. Absolutely NOT 90º.

As well as good prep and good stretching, be sure to go very lightly over your skin to make sure you're not going to be prone to nicks and cuts do to pressing witht he blade.

X

30 degreees, or about two spine widths away from your skin...

Well I'd have to say....30 degrees...LOL....yea. We need to hunt down the idiot that wrote that 90 degree stuff....I like to use 30 for the first pass and maybe 40 for the second. 90 will have a good shot at breaking your edge. And just for the record EdlinLA, its a perfectly valid question. Many just use two spine widths as a guide to attain 30 degrees. Try and feel a smoothest cutting point, its noisy too, don't let that throw you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

And just for the record EdlinLA, its a perfectly valid question.

---

:confused: I didn't say anything about the validity of his question. :D

The 90 degree angle advise is on the Shaving Tips
from Parkers Knives in the Help Files section under
Shaving. I remember reading this myself before attempting
my first shave. I definately disregared this advise with so
many of you guys saying use a 30 degree angle.

Best Regards,

Terry

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

Well I'd have to say....30 degrees...LOL....yea. We need to hunt down the idiot that wrote that 90 degree stuff....I like to use 30 for the first pass and maybe 40 for the second. 90 will have a good shot at breaking your edge. And just for the record EdlinLA, its a perfectly valid question. Many just use two spine widths as a guide to attain 30 degrees. Try and feel a smoothest cutting point, its noisy too, don't let that throw you.

---

Maybe the author was just doing the math...30 degrees X three passes = 90 degrees!

RT

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EdinLA44

:confused: I didn't say anything about the validity of his question. :D

---

LOL....Yes you did...anyway thats the way I read it this morning at 4 am....sorry I was referring to the original post....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

LOL....Yes you did...anyway thats the way I read it this morning at 4 am....sorry I was referring to the original post....

---

It's cool. I just hope you weren't trying to shave at that hour. :eek:

Unfortunately yes! I have to shave at 4:30 am every morning. Makes shaving with a straight almost dangerous! Oh wait....

Jeff touched on it, but I'll echo that a sharp razor is critical to a close shave. And, yes, 30 degrees (about 2 spine widths) is usually the best angle for shaving most of your face. But, I've also found that in tough places like your chin and neck laying the razor flatter, almost but not quite against the spine (10-20 degrees) is helpful. Otherwise the razor sometimes wants to dig in and pull in these regions, especially with tough beards. But again, sharp is imperitive. It should at least pass the hanging hair test.

Tom

No bagging please, but my razor, brush, soap, and stand all came in the mail yesterday -- but not my strop -- and I thought I'd give it a try right out of the box despite the reams of good advice in this forum and others about how it's hit or miss and maybe you'll get a shave-ready razor and maybe you won't. So, long story sharp, my brand spanking new Pierre Thiers Limited Editions (No. 162) is not quite sharp enough for a close shave. Of course, it was my first time ever, and my soaping up/lathering technique probably leaves something to be desired, but I'm fairly confident the razor's not quite keen enough, as my skin's a little sore (though not rashed-out). Being completely irresponsible, of course, I went ahead and disregarded everyone's advice and did my entire face rather than just the sides of my cheeks, and it took me about 40 minutes, and it was a tad nerve-racking, especially up under my nose and around my lower lip. I took a shower, put a warm washrag on my face for a minute or so, lathered up with my new badger bristle, did two passes, and was trying really hard not to exert any force at all but merely to slide the razor over my skin, but the skin's still a bit tight looking and sore. For comparison purposes, I would say I got about the same quality shave as one would with a plastic disposable single blade razor from Walgreens. :( But on the bright side I didn't cut myself at all :) , and the technique didn't feel too awkward even though I used my right hand for everything. (I tried the left and it felt too odd to try, at least for now). I'm waiting for a Norton 4000/8000 and a paddle strop from Tony Miller with a .50 micron grit on it, and will lightly hone with a 3/3, 1/3, 1/3 on the Norton and then do 5-10 passes on the pasted side of the strop, followed b¥*10-15 passes on the smooth leather side, and then try again.

And to keep this post thread-relevant, thank you all for your advice on the angle, as I kept the blade at 30º for most of the shave, and a little closer under the bottom lip (15º or so), rather than the 90º I was flirting with before (I would call that flirting with disaster now if I were trying to be facetious).

Remember Caravaggio, Rome wasn't built in a week!!!

Crawl before you walk!

-Rob

Sounds like you are in pretty good shape and ready for some of the best shaves of your life. Just one thought: Honing very lightly might be too heavy. Yeah, I mean it. Go ULTRA light on those passes and you'll probably improve your edge and not dull it. Especially at the end of honing or when the razor really is almost there, I feel that there is no such thing as too light under those circumstances.

X

You shaved without stropping? If thats the case I would only strop the razor when it arrives and test shave again. I would also use a less aggressive honing plan first, then restrop, then test shave one more time. So once the strop arrives, strop and test shave, then hone. Then I would try a few passes on the 8k followed by the .5 paste. Then restrop and test shave. It sounds to me like this razor is very close to shave ready, I mean really, really close. If you can run it over the pasted strop without using the hone you'll much more likely keep this thing running. So:

Congrats on your first shave, no more shaving without stropping, and be very careful how aggressive you attack the blade at this point. Stropping alone will probably cut it.